Saga's, Antiquities, Mythology, and Legends of the Star League
by Reichenfaust
Summary: The tales of how humanity, and the galaxy became what they are today. Will contain stories on what has happened before the Covenant Invasions.
1. Chapter 1

**Saga's, Antiquities, Mythology, and Legends of the Star League**

 **Disclaimer:** I own no franchises/original material that appear within. They belong to their respective creators/owners.

 **Summary:** The tales of how humanity, and the galaxy became what they are today. Will contain stories on what has happened before the Covenant Invasions.

 **Chapter 1-Level 10**

 **-Eminem-Rap God START-**

 **1800 hrs, 2551**

 **Tharkad City, Asgard,**

 **Lyran Commonwealth**

Friedrich Steiner, Field Marshal of the Lyran Commonwealth, and Director of _**HEIMDALL**_ was occupied in his thoughts. He had been thinking a lot since he had left Terra, troubled over the fact he could not access certain files, from the Star League's Codex. The warning also specifically stated, that a head of state classified the material, and he would need permission to proceed.

Case in point, why he decided to make an unexpected drop-in, to "chat", with Archon Katherine Steiner, and find out why information was hidden from him.

"Care to explain this to me?" He asked bluntly, yet politely, as he strode into the spacious office of the Archon, ruler of Tharkad, 550 systems, and the **Lyran Commonwealth**. Katherine raised an eyebrow, indicating no knowledge of what he was asking, and Friedrich thrust the datapad he had been carrying onto her desk.

She glanced over it, before motioning for her guards to leave.

"You do know that what your asking about, is a whole new level of information, even for your position..." The Archon fixed in place him with her steady hazel eyes. Friedrich didn't budge.

"I require all the angles, to better protect this nation, and it's people. Therefore, you need to explain to me, exactly why there is information classified above mine." Katherine arched an eyebrow, not liking the fact that here intel chief was being so flippantly insubordinate, and demanding. That was only one way of looking at it, she surmised, as she thought that he also looked passionate and driven as well.

 _Sigh_ "You know that there have been instances, of phenomena like Psychics and Pyrokinetics, appearing amongst humanity since the 1980's on Terra right?" Friedrich narrowed his brows, before he looked at her, curious at where this was going.

"Well, this data finding, places psychics and other such phenomena, at a very early age. They have been around for a VERY long time, in other galaxies even, and have had a staggering effect on humanities history. Are you prepared to learn of the secret history?" Friedrich stared at his cousin. He was unsure how to respond.

" _Psychics... Galaxies... Time..."_ Friedrich found himself nodding, and finding his voice.

"To protect the people, I need to be able to assess and quantify the variables. If I do not have them, they don't fit in the battlefield I have in my mind. Meaning, at some point, my people could be ambushed, or surprised by unknown factors. I've come to accept I will not know everything in this great and terrible 'verse, but I do not except not knowing something when it is within my grasp." Friedrich stated with passion.

Katherine nodded. "I see. That is the answer I wanted." A door opened, and a figure came out from behind the Archon's desk. Friedrich noticed the door was near seamlessly integrated into the wall.

"Commodore Sieglinde will explain." A tall, blonde-haired, and blue-eyed women came from the door, eye's seeming to softly pulse silver power. Stopping a foot from Friedrich, she snapped off a sharp salute, which Friedrich returned.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you Marshal Steiner. I am Commodore Jera Sieglinde, the director of _**HEIMDALL's Psychic Div**_. She stuck her hand out, and Friedrich shook it, naturally.

" _Strong grip, even my enhanced body is feeling that... I have a psychic division?"_ These thoughts were running through his head, as he turned to look at Katherine, who smirked.

"Yes, Sieglinde, and several others have been running a division that is linked to yours. Yes, their have been several incarnations, and they have been with our... Nation... Ever since at least the time of National Socialist Germany." Katherine stated without reserve, and Friedrich's eyes went wide. These people were once on the side of Hitler, Himmler, Strauss, and Heydrich? He didn't know whether to be disgusted or awed that they had committed crimes, or had undergone such a fundamental character shift in allegiance.

"We fight for the good of all now. There was a time, when we were convinced of our superiority, but then the Nazi's and their Thule Mage's began to make deals with... Beings of terrible darkness..." Sieglinde said, sadness flowing over her tone.

"Mages?" Questioned Friedrich, now wide-eyed, looking from one women to another.

"Oh yes my good Marshall. You have stumbled down the rabbit hole now. Isn't this what you wanted?" Katherine was smirking in smug satisfaction, as Friedrich's mind roiled in rebellion, not wanting to accept that the hole was really this fucking deep.

"Your full of Scheiße... You have to be... I could accept Psychics, and 'kinetics, but now your talking about things straight out of myth and legend!" Friedrich gesticulated his hands wildly, as he nearly shouted at his Commander-in-Chief, his normally cool demeanour threatening to break.

"Yes." The Archon folded her arms, and sat straighter in her chair, if that was possible. The Marshal dropped his arms and stared, his mind running through countless scenarios, trying and struggling valiantly to assess this new paradigm he was being introduced to.

"... I want to know everything." He said with a tone of strained tiredness, from a man who hadn't slept in three days, trying to figure out what he wasn't able to access in the Star League's Library Codex. Magic, and anything beyond that had never come to mind, being that he was firmly set in his assessment of everything being beholden to certain rules, laws, and consistencies in the universe.

Now, he was being told that there was much more, yet it was hidden. Which brought up a point of contention.

"Why go to such lengths to keep it hidden?" He questioned the Archon, the fierceness back in his steely grey eyes, the powerful man that would go to any limit to protect the Lyran Nation.

"You can figure it out." Marshal Steiner glanced at Commodore Sieglinde, who was grinning smugly, having prodded him into a furious bout thinking once more.

"We've almost lost our history with the Mages, several times, and the fact that you betrayed the Nazis means the forces they worked with might've almost eliminated humanity at some point. Close enough?" Katherine nodded, praise in her facial expressions, as she pressed a button on her desk.

"Very good. You will soon realize the full scope of what we deal with, and truly understand why the head's of state expedited the Star League Accords, after Mad Max was dealt with." Friedrich grimaced, remembering the insane Capellan leader, and his 1,000 World Coalition, being the last major conflagration in the Age of War.

The bastard used Uterine Replicators, Clone Technology, and several other banned/restricted/regulated technological fields to build a massive army, and wage war with the rest of the realms of the Inner Sphere. After that war, many technologies came under harsher regulations, and the Megacorp Council became an entity that the Star League maintained better relations with, to prevent such a thing happening again. They were extremely useful during the Covenant Invasions however, thus they continued to exist as a quasi-independent entity, in the far Southeast Periphery.

"You don't want people running wild with knowledge again, despite what we have begun to regain, in this Age of Reclamation... Are the other intel chiefs as stable as I am?" Katherine paused, eyes shifting to the side, contemplating.

"Thomas Marik probably cannot be trusted, however, he seems to stable and sane. He is proud enough to continue the work of Blake, he so often talks of, but put him down as possible threat. Ironside is firmly on Davion and the Star League's side, given the scale of some of the recovered evidence. Shepard mourns the loss of his troops against Liao, but he is steadfast and dedicated to Terra. Parangosky we have to watch out for. The Master of the Arashikage, has known of this for longer than the Kurita's have been in power, and will continue to aid the spirit of the of the Empire of the Rising Sun, whatever form it may possess. Their loyalty is to The Dragon, and no one else." Steiner noticed that one of the Great Houses was conspicuously absent.

"And Liao?" Katherine frowned slightly, resting her chin in her interlocked hands.

"Liao is definitely more complicated. Candace rules as Duchess. However, Romano holds the Maskirovka. It is only through the events of these past 25 years that have allowed the two to come to these terms. They do not hate each other, but they definitely do not like each other. Mad Max did a number on his children. However, they understood that to take the Confederation from their father(being female and all), they must act in concert. Playing one of each other, light and dark, brightness to shadows." Friedrich raised an eyebrow while scrunching his face in thought.

" _So, that's how they keep the Confederation together... The will it must take to not kill each other, having been bred from birth to do such a thing, would be enormous."_ The Marshal returned to the present, and focused on the Archon again.

"All in all, the Periphery is all we worry about. They may be freer with this information than we like, so it may only be a matter of time before we have full disclosure. The Megacorporation Council already know, as they have been investigating Humanities history for a long time, nearly since their inception. Not only that, they have been a part of this weird history." Friedrich looked confused.

"2527 is not the first time we were attacked by aliens." The Marshal's eyes widened, and he shook his head.

"I really shouldn't be surprised, but I continue to be..." His AID(Artificial Intelligence Device) beeped, bringing up a message. He brought his wrist to his chest, pressed a holocontrol, and the message displayed itself. It simply showed his name, rank, and new security clearance.

 **Level 10-Omega**.

"Omega?" Sieglinde answered this time.

"There are sub-levels within each level. Operational security and sensitivity. For example, Synthetic's and their research are classified Level 6, but information regarding things like the Reapers are **Level** **6** \- **Zeta**. **Alpha** , **Beta** , **Gamma** , **Zeta** , **Omega**. Omega would refer to the abilities of an AI like Mendicant Bias of the Forerunner Ecumene." Sieglinde elaborated, as she brought up her own holoprojection, Friedrich taking down his. The various levels and sub-levels became displayed, and showed the differences in ratings and capabilities between the two Synthetic's.

"Ok, where do we start." The Archon smiled.

"Well, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..."

 **AUTHOR NOTE:** This is where I'm kicking all the stories that take place earlier than the Covenant Invasions too. Coming up with ways to integrate these Sagas into the main entries, then start the story, is being troublesome in my brain. This series will focus heavily on the mysteries of technology, various types of kinetics, magic, and some other surprises I have in store.


	2. Chapter 2

**Saga's, Antiquities, Mythology, and Legends of the Star League**

 **Disclaimer:** This is my Boomerdisclaimerheimer. Back off Lawyers, or be overwhelmed with the sheer aneurysm-inducing apoplexy you will get from reading my story, HAH! Everything original belongs to their creators, and owners.

 **Summary:** The tales of how humanity, and the galaxy became what they are today. Will contain stories on what has happened before the Covenant Invasions. Jut because it may take place in the present, doesn't mean there aren't things being recovered, and plots being set up.

 _ **Saga 1-Colonel Nukem's Triangullum Trip**_

 **Chapter 2-Expedition Landfall**

 **01:30 HRS, Jan 2, 2550**

 **Unknown Planet,**

 **Triangullum Galaxy**

 **Umbrella Dreadnought** _Raccoon City_ glided smoothly through the void, as it approached it's first destination, in this fresh and uncharted Galaxy. The crew of the small fleet had spoken in hushed tones over the journey in Slipspace, excited at the prospects of what they could find. This was due to their Megacorporation's record with finding things. **_Umbrella_ ** was very successful in finding new and exciting things, especially when it came to the field of biology.

The Fleet's Escort Carriers began disgorging Omnifighters, by the dozens, which canvassed the local space at great speed, while Assault DropShips disengaged from their docking collars and took up positions within the fleet to provide fire support if the need arose. Destroyers moved to picket lines, Frigate MissileBoats moved to their cordon firing lines, and Battlecruisers took up the mid-line. This was between the Dreadnought's and Carriers, and the rest of the Fleet. Battlecruisers had weaponry like Dreadnought's, but were significantly faster, so they put out the fire's and took down troublesome target. The entire fleet began the start-up protocol's for their particle shielding, as the Quantum Fields protecting them from Slipspace's ravages dropped, and soon their ships and troops were protected.

The fleet, while small, carried a Division of BattleMech's, 2 Armoured Division's, 2 Division's of Umbrella Corps Soldiers, 1 Division of Artillery, and a single Regiment of their Super-Soldiers. While many can claim that this was a massive force, compared to what the Inner Sphere and Covenant Empire had thrown at each other, this was peanuts. Standard Operating Procedure, now dictated travelling expeditions of any kind were to have this level of force disposition,at minimume, thus they were well-armed and armoured.

The commanding officer of this expedition, Colonel Nukem, was the 25th Commander of the **NEMESIS DIV** of **Umbrella**. Having numerous campaigns under his belt, such as the Pegasus expedition, and having part of the Koprulu team, the Colonel was an easy choice for the command. Others could have been picked, like Antonius Jensen, or Big Boss, but they had current and demanding projects calling their attention elsewhere. Currently, Nukem is sitting at his commanders console aboard his Dreadnought, waiting for something to happen. Anything really, he was very bored.

Standing up, stretched, eliciting some snaps and pops from his neck and back. Sun-kissed blonde hair cut into an impressive 4 inch flattop, bronze skin and standing at nearly 7 feet, he cut an intimidating figure. Wearing a red tank-top, and blue pants, he was powerfully built. No obvious rank or indication that he was in command, except his belt, which had a shiny gold buckle on it in the shape of a hazardous materials warning. There was no doubt that he was Nukem.

The Colonel looked over the bridge, as his fleet deployed, watching for any sign of information or warning from any of his subordinates. As one of the greatest Super-Soldiers to exist, he was easily aware of nearly everything around him. There, his sensor operator had detected something, a strange reading that didn't translate too well to their systems. No multitude of unknown space-born objects inbound, at a determined pace, so no First Contact scenario right now at least.

That meant recoverable items.

"Attention. Our primary objective is now active. Our sensor operator has detected something unusual on that planet." The crew looked over to him, nodding, giving him their full attention. "I will be going alone to reconnoitre whatever has been detected. No objections." He stated firmly, before any complaints could be levelled, whether genuine or glory-derived. "Relay my orders to the Fleet. Keep everything hot, everybody stays in suits, 'Mech's, and armour. No exceptions. Be ready to drop on my order."

The crew nodded as he turned around, threw his long leather duster on, clipped his belt up, then finally made sure his weapons were secure. Striking a match he lit a thick cigar, clapping a wide-brimmed low-crowned sombrero onto his head, striding down a corridor out of the bridge. He began prodding his **AID** on as he made his way to the hangar in the _Raccoon City_.

"Bombshell, what can you tell me about this planet, and the readings we've got from it?" The Colonel asked, as he strode to a Hyper-Velocity Elevator, before punching in the deck level of the hangar. The elevator shot towards the lower decks.

" _From what I can tell, it has a breathable Terra-type atmosphere, variances in flora and fauna of course. The readings are interesting... High-Energy output, from small objects, quite a few of them actually. We might be looking at a new method of power generation... I would need a closer look of course, to make proper conclusions."_ The AI stated matter-of-factually. The Colonel nodded along with her words, despite the fact that the AI was not even projecting at this point. Second nature for him at this point, he figured as he fiddled with another match, to re-light his Cigar.

Taking a long puff, he took the time to enjoy the _Delectado_ Tobacco, an import from Terra. It seemed to go out easily though, sometimes the quality wasn't on the up and up.

"You know that's not good for your system. Even if you are a Super-Soldier..." Bombshell interjected into his quiet ritual.

The Colonel raised an eyebrow, rolling his cigar from one side to another, as Bombshell made the effort to materialize from her Holoprojector.

"Your system will have to fight the damage from the tobacco, besides whatever else happens to you, if you keep smoking like that." Bombshell's orange hologram said, hands on her hips. Dressed like CIA Agent from the mid-1990s, she cut a sharp figure, with twin pistols holstered in a belt on her waist. AI often chose modes of dress that reflected their attitudes. In this case, Bombshell's, was stylizing her avatar to look like she was Nukem's "Handler".

The Colonel shrugged, and continued to smoke. "Doesn't matter what I do, someday, somewhere, I'll get mine. Whether I smoke or not, won't make a damn difference. I've known men and women who can out-run others that don't smoke, and they in fact smoke a pack of cigarettes a day. It all depends on the effort you put in to what you do, I suppose, and I'll be damned if I'm not the best. The day I'm not the best, is the day someone better comes along. Simple as that." Bombshell's avatar shook her head.

"You really can't compromise, can you?" Nukem half-grinned, cigar in the right-side of his mouth.

"Never." **ding**

Immediately, Colonel Nukem strode forward, as the sound of the elevator chimed. The blast doors opened, and he beheld the hangar of his Dreadnought.

A dreadnought's hangar, is minimal compared to a carrier, or even frigate. Most other ships are made for troop carrying capacity, but the dreadnought class of ships was designed along the lines of old Terran Battleships. Pure WarShips, with powerful weaponry, and kill capabilities. Their hangar only included enough Fighters for the personnel onboard, using them as their life-boat systems. Humans preferred to have shielding, armour, and weapons-capabilities when abandoning ship.

The Colonel reached his personal fighter, an Omni _Thunderbird_ design, 100 tonnes of ferocious and destructive power. Carrying the newest in Inertial Dampening grav-plates, Particle Shielding, Streak Missiles, a Railgun, two Medium Pulse Lasers(one under each wing), and twin Extended Range Particle Projector Cannons. It also had an extremely advanced Ferro-Fibrous armour on it, made of several strong, interweaved and compressed alloys. Umbrella had worked hard to make this baby everything she was, in a partnership with another Megacorporation. **_UAC_ ** had worked with the Aerospace Fighter for 500 years, and ever since their monumental success with the **YF-22 Raptor** , had done nothing but improve and continuously put out the best in Exoatmospheric Combat.

"Good to go?" He queried his AID. She nodded, having spun up the reactor on the fighter, long before they reached the hangar. The tech's had gone over every piece of equipment in the fleet, per the Colonel's orders, since he wanted to be at full alert status once they got to Triangullum. And he didn't want to have the chance of anything breaking down, if a fight broke out, leaving him required to use his forces to engage an unknown with broken equipment.

"Damn, I'm looking good." He chuckled to himself, as he caught his own reflection, getting into the cockpit. Bombshell snorted. Nukem was known to be narcissistic, but it was accepted as a personality tic. After settling in, and buckling the harness, the systems came on one by one.

 **::Weapons... 100%, System Ready::**

 **::Shielding... 100%, System Ready::**

 **::Engines... 100%, System Ready::**

 **::Systems... 100%, Ready::**

 **::Proceed when Safe, Colonel Nukem::**

The fighter began to levitate, the mooring clamps instantly released by Bombshell, and the fighter spun to face the tunnel that led to space. Slowly accelerating until he was at nearly 75 G's, he blasted out from the _Raccoon City_ , and took the time to circle the fleet. Inertial Dampening had led to a revolution in naval technology, and had allowed Humanity to actually stand a goddamn chance when the Covenant Invaded. If wasn't for that specific piece of technology, their ship's, and troops would have been slaughtered wholesale by the Theocratic Empire.

Manually, rather using the computer, he checked his subordinates flight patterns, and disposition of the fleets ships. Satisfied, he headed for the planet, wondering exactly what he was going to find. One reason he chose to go alone, is people often died, when exploring new places. That was something he could prevent. Second, his superiors didn't mind when he went above and beyond, as he kept giving them great results for their program.

Truly, he went alone, because he felt that there was an uncertainty about the values and nature of heroism, and he was struggling inside. He needed to find it, even in this 'verse, which was hard being in the permanent employ of _**Umbrella Corporation**_. His endeavours to save others and aid people had not gone well in the past, and he had found that while he couldn't protect everyone, he could protect some. Putting himself at risk and at the forefront, revealed more and more about his purpose to him, then sending others to die in hopes of recovering some strange artifact that would aid _**Umbrella**_. The 'verse was a grey and murky place to be, with no definite black and white. The human spirit itself, seemed infinitely divided, but carried the hallmark's of strength and resilience through it's branch's.

The Colonel released himself from his thoughts, as his fighter broke atmosphere. Zipping smoothly through the planet's nitrogen, oxygen and other gaseous elements, he made his way to the faint emanations of energy.

" _A mountain... Typical, one way in, one way out. Probably a dozen secret passages, but I probably won't find them on the first go. Have to make sure I don't blow up the whole thing this time..."_ The Colonel grimaced, climbing out of his fighter.

 **-Official Duke Nukem Forever Teaser Video START-**

Nukem walked to the entrance, and simply held his AID to the door. After a long pause, there was a low-bass clicking, and the door rumbled inwards. "Thanks Bombshell." Nukem said, putting the device in a pouch on his belt. His coat wasn't exactly secure.

Vision-enhancements immediately came online, his glasses bringing every visible part of the entrance into harsh blue perspective. Scanning right-to-left, he walked in softly, keeping left.

"Ok. Any detectable pressure plates, traps, and emissions?" Bombshell began running her software, and replied quickly, going through the readout of digitally available information being fed to the AID.

"Several pressure plates, with active power-conduits tied to them. I'll tag them on your HUD. Also, there are several motion-sensing lasers, I've detected disturbance's in the airflow's around certain height-levels in front of you." Several square spots, and thin lines came into being, at various distances, before the Colonel. Nukem smirked, as he pulled out a cigar.

"Do you think smoke will disrupt the beam's cohesion?" Bombshell paused, processing the idea.

"Possible, but you could also set off the alarm, and turn on all of the security." The Colonel grinned, as he walked over and under a few beams, and around pressure plates. Eventually, as he got to the end of the corridor, he spied that his way was blocked. A multitude of sensor beams covered his path.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained." He said, lighting up the cigar, and inhaling a 1/10 of it, building up a cloud of smoke in his lungs. With precise care, he proceeded to blow the smoke over the large area, and watched as the laser beams became visible. They then faded in the center of the cloud, and appeared to only exist just outside it's limits. Giving him just enough space to work with, and of course a short amount of time to get through the door.

"I cannot believe that worked. What kind of society has lasers, that can be disrupted by Cigar smoke?" The AI asked incredulously, as she began to work on the door.

"Maybe it's just old. We had a lot of diffusion problems with lasers, back when they were first becoming common. Certain gases, and substances could disrupt beam coherence, and affect the ability and purpose of their design quite easily. My guess, is that it's just old. Don't consign the general level of technology around here, to a fault like this, it's just one example." The Colonel stated idly, while he waited.

 **click**

An elevator awaited him.

"Now, how is this not a trap..." Nukem said, more to himself, before climbing in, and punching in commands for the next level down. He assumed that being at the top, meant they were the last one on the height, hoping to be right. There were only two buttons anyway, one for upper level, one for lower. The elevator hummed for a couple a seconds, before it opened on the other side.

Nukem raised an eyebrow.

A moderately-sized room awaited him. It also had many still forms in it, that seemed to be some kind of Androids, facing all kinds of directions. Grimacing, he strode forward, aware of the panels beneath his feet, and keeping a hand on his revolver.

 **chack-chick-whir**

One of the Androids powered up, and turned towards him, arm-cannons pointed at his centre-of-mass.

 **BLAM**

It fell to the floor lifelessly, as Nukem swept his still smoking revolver around the room, looking for more hostiles.

 **-Official Duke Nukem Forever Teaser End-  
**

 **-Duke Nukem Forever 2009 Bryan Brewer Demo Reel START-**

 **Vuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum**

" _Detecting several power-signatures. Ranging in size. This whole facility has gone active! Not much sentience, no biological life detected, and no AI either. It's all automated."_ Bombshell's voice passed through his neural-connection, and into his thoughts.

"Meaning I have to fight my way through." Bombshell didn't answer, having reached the same conclusion. Suddenly, he slid to the side, as a crackling blast of energy sizzled into the wall. He may not be as fast as Wesker, but he had decent and speedy reflexes.

" _There are three hidden behind the main pillar. Eight that you can see."_ Nukem grinned, as he begun to zigzag back and forth, making randomized patterns. Two of the droids were now facing him, while others were farther away, trying to flank the Super Soldier.

 **BLAMBLAM**

Two droids went down with their necks exploding, blowing apart their processing centre's, and energy cores. Having faced enough **T-850's** in various tests, Nukem knew to where to hit, on humans and synthetics, causing the most catastrophic damage. Even so, his **.75 Model 2548 Winchester Rail-Action Revolver** , was good enough to blow the head and chest off damn near anything. Still, he went for the known weak-spot, hoping to cause maximum damage to the unknown War-Robot's.

 **TREWWWTREWWWTREWWW**

"I'm gonna get medieval on your asses!" The Colonel swore, as he took fire from the laser-weapons, his jacket deflecting some of the energy, and his durable constitution taking the rest. Ducking behind a metallic console, he paused and pulled the spent casings from his weapon, performing a tactical reload. He didn't want to be caught in the open, with less rounds than there were enemies. Two casings, two droids.

Cursing, he sprinted in a strafing manoeuvre, drawing beads on the War-Bot's.

 **BLAM**

His jacket continued to take fire, but he reached the far left droid(holstering his revolver), and launched one of size 12, 5 EE wide boots at it's head.

 **CLANG**

Using the body, he turned, hoisted it over his head, and threw it bodily as hard as he could.

 **CLANG**

Falling to his knee's, he quickly unholstered his revolver, spinning around.

 **TREWWWTREWWTREWWW**

 **BLAMBLAMBLAM**

Both parties stood motionless, after exchanging shots. Then, with a creak and a groan, the War-Bot's fell over. Nukem quickly began to creep to the right, not making a sound, whilst reloading his weapon. Four casings, four droids.

His revolver was a mix of classic and contemporary technology. You could use a plunger on it, to push casings out of it, should you not want to dump your rounds, or you could flick the switch and the cylinder popped open so you could eject all of your cartridges. Of course, it was also a railgun, chambered to fire .75 calibre rounds.

Finishing reloading, he peered sideways around the corner, trying to expose as little of his head(and his hat, but hey, he loved his hat). Three Droids were watching patiently from the only way through the room.

 **chink-click...**

" _That's a trap panel, there's a sizable power-conduit attached to it, get outta there!"_ Bombshell's voice rang through the neural-connection, even as the Colonel was firing shots, and running for cover.

Several Auto-Guns lowered from the roof, at all four point's of the room, and begin to _spew_ laser-fire in great quantity.

 **TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TRRRT!**

Being that he was in a corner already, Colonel Nukem blasted one of the turrets right away, blowing it off of it's supports, in a flash of silver accelerated death.

" _3 turrets, 3 droids."_ He thought, as he reloaded. 2 turrets were within line-of-sight, 1 was not, and the War-Bot's were to his right.

"Bombshell, tag that turret." He programmed his revolver for the next set of shots, very carefully, while hefting a sizable chunk of debris.

Using his prodigious strength, he whipped the rock over his shoulder, then stood. Time seemed to slow, as the turrets whizzed into position, and cut the rock to pieces with their automatic blasts. The War-Bot's eyes moved to the distraction for nary a second, but a second was all Nukem needed.

 **BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM**

Shooting the first three War-Bot's easily, he knew he had slivers of seconds to shoot two targets 90 degrees from each other, which he took care of quite easily. His last shot wen to the far corner of the main pillar in the room(it was extremely wide, enough to provide cover from two turrets if one stayed on a single side), and it curved once it hit the corner. Miniature guidance's enhanced this bullet, but it wasn't fired at rail-speeds. Even an AI guided bullet couldn't have it's pathway changed at that speed, with current technology. So Nukem used a round similar to his namesake. **High-EX Pure Fusion "Nuke" Rounds**.

 **KTHOOM**

With a burst of ignited air, the fusion fuels inside the guided bullet detonated, bringing a small, but concentrated plasmatic fireball of death to the last turret.

"You could've taken all of them out, with a single guided round..." Spoke Bombshell's voice, as she projected herself from his pocket, surveying the destruction visually.

"Yeah, I could've... It takes no skill at all to use guided munitions, there's absolutely no challenge, you know that. Why do you think I came alone? Even for you, it's what 0.00001% of your processing power to put that bullet around this room?"

Bombshell let out an exasperated sigh. Despite having various high-tech resources available to him, the Colonel used a lot of purpose-made, unique equipment, because he usually refused to use something that enhanced his skills. Only after years of experience and missions, was he coming anywhere close to what others did, in regards to his current loadout. Even so, he was one of the last Tier-1 assets to start carrying an AID, and accept changes to his arsenal.

"Yes, it takes very minute amounts of processing power to guide munitions Colonel, but they were made to be used... Don't put yourself in harms way, needlessly..." Nukem nodded, after he finished getting into the next hallway.

Another elevator.

The Colonel groaned. "Don't tell that this entire facility, is just one elevator after another, all the way down... Care to see if you can get a scan, now that we are inside the mountain, Bombshell?" He asked, pulling the AID out, and setting it on one of the metallic consoles. He lit another cigar. Bombshell popped out, and began to gesture into the air, seeing if she could get a lay of the land.

"Hmmm. The facility is hardened... But to outside scans and intrusions. There are lot's of unfamiliar elements of course, and the computer network is completely dead, so there are no intrusion points. I can't get a strict map of the internal structure. Here's the approximate location of the artifact... The energy signatures I detected, are acting strange, like they are closed off from cyberspace..." Bombshell trailed off, and frowned. "I can't gain access to them. It's like they are just not there..."

Nukem furrowed his brow, puffing his cigar steadily, that was really strange. Advanced technology usually wasn't closed circuit, and even so, humanity had been breaking open computers with AI for hundreds of years. The advanced technology of the 25th Century had been stolen by powerful AI's in amazing spy-operations by various nations. That was why most of the Star League had BattleMech's, Super-Soldiers, Cybernetics, Battlearmour, and other pieces of tech, once the Age of War began.

For an AI to not be able to hack something... This mission was swiftly delving into territory that would be full of 'snags'. A word every Tier 1 Operative knew, concerning times, when missions would get held up for varieties of reasons.

"The sooner we get to it, sooner we can get a look at what it is, and crack it open." The Colonel said, walking into the Elevator, before hitting button for the next floor down. "Then, it will be safe for the expedition's scientists to get down here, and see what secrets it holds."

The door opened, and this time, an open room greeted the two. They were on a balcony, overlooking five staircases going into the centre, where a five-sided bunker stood. The room was 30 feet tall, including the staircases, but the bunker was only barely 9 feet.

"Interesting room design. Very close quarters. These two sub-rooms on this level, are quite tight, not a lot of manoeuvring space. Plenty of cover, though..." Nukem remarked, as he made his down one of the stair cases. The room opened up here, becoming nearly 30 feet, the staircases the only thing that interrupted the floor design.

"Hmmm, that's interesting." Nukem paused, and waited for his AID to apprise him of what she uncovered.

"I've been running spectrographic scans of every room we've been in... There is a barely discernible layer of markings, covering the room's ceiling, wall's and floor. The reading didn't catch my attention the first few times, because it read as a different element, and not as language. These wall's, the floor and ceiling, and the other rooms... They were fabricated as pieces, with the markings, these hieroglyphics already there." Bombshell said, as she popped up, then began to highlight a portion of the floor. The markings came into visibility now, in some kind of unknown language, and was all words no picture-forms.

"It's not a language I know. I would have to hear it spoken, and figure it out from there." The Colonel nodded, bit into a cigar, and moved to one of the entrances. "You know we are likely to encounter many large concentrations of enemies here, most likely with some form of melee weapon..."

The Colonel smirked and just cracked his knuckles. While doing so, he pressed the symbol on top of each of his gloves.

"Those are untested." Bombshell's voice had an edge, not often there, to it. He could be wasting resources, wasting potential artifacts, and most of all wasting his life after all.

 **-Duke Nukem Forever** **2009 Bryan Brewer Demo Reel END-**

 **-God Mode-Sons of Amon START-**

"It'll be fine." He grinned, as rolled his shoulders, cracked his neck and strode forward. The gloves began their startup sequence, and soon, a glowing fiery orange field, covered the gloves and hand of the Colonel. **Berserker Model 19 Fusion Grade Nuclear Caestus** was an untested prototype weapon, developed by **Umbrella** , during the Covenant Invasions. This came from their experiences with The Covenant Empire's large-scale use of Plasma Weaponry, Plasma Reactors, and Plasma Shielding. The human mastery of Fusion, and Electromangnetics, had birthed a possible high-grade counter to the Sangheili Energy Sword. This came in the form of Fusion Grade weapons. The **Nuclear Caestus** was the latest in a line of weapons, stretching back years. It was now, in a smaller more efficient package.

Tiny Fusion batteries ignited the stored simple Hydrogen molecules turning it into glowing Protium, while powerful Electromagnetic Nano-Engines brought crackling fields of energy into effect, stabilizing the Fusion Reaction around Colonel Nukem's fists into Electromagnetic Fields. He walked through the archway, and immediately was greeted by a plinth containing a large amount of robotic bodies, and three staircases. This facility was confusing on purpose, and had great choke-points, so it could be defended easily.

The War-Bots swivelled around. They all held melee implement of some sort, and each sparked with energy, as they each charged him in a rustle of metal. The Colonel sprinted forward, and punched one in it's chest, before it could swing the staff at him. He continued his momentum, punching the arm forward, throwing the 'bot at it's friends, and grabbing a close-by duo's skulls.

They sizzled, and melted quickly, as he snapped off a series of thrust kicks. Easily knocking War-Bot's off their feet, denting them, and breaking their staffs. Lashing out with rights and lefts, he dashed through the Bot's, crushing the opposition as he made his way through their slower strikes. He grinned, as the thrill of time slowing down in his system, his advanced physiology turbocharged in this state.

Nerve's firing like a 10,000 RPM Terran SS 1967 SS Chevelle Gasser. Muscles straining like WorkMech Myomers. Tendons and ligaments stinging, springy and strong as an Atlantean Sword. Bones as hard as a Coltan-Endoskeleton, bearing the force easily. Organ's and redundant biological systems keeping everything in harmony, he sunk into the awareness, and surged through the hostile machines, blowing them apart.

 **Umbrella** had been producing it's Super-Soldiers, for a long time, so it only stood to reason they had improved the research done by the **Nazi's** and the **Illuminati**. Unlike other variants, theirs were completely biological, and trained to exceed their limitations. Others varied in design.

He ripped arms off of droids, throwing them at others, smashing through one after another. Punching through their chests, ripping them in half, peeling the unknown-alloy shells like they were paper-mache. He grabbed one and used it's body as a flail, while lashing out with stiff haymakers of surging force, blowing up multitudes of the War-Bot's. The platoon pressed, trying to gain ground against the killing machine in their midst, but it was useless. The Colonel caught what melee weapons were directed at him, crushing them and turning each implement into a pile of slag, while never staying still. Charging through swaths of foes, he reaped more and more, with each pass. Bot's continued to blow up, until silence reigned.

Nukem soon stood among the rubble of 40 War-Bot's, lighting a match, as the energy dissipated and was drawn back into the batteries. This made for a curious site, as the room darkened, and the disappearing Fusion-Energy lit up his face(along with the match). A hologram, ghostly blue, took form.

An individual wearing a robe, and form-fitting armour, appeared. It's face was disguised, as it was wearing a mask, but the physiology appeared male.

" **Greetings stranger. Congratulations on making it this far. I am Revan, once Jedi Master, once Dark Lord of the Sith. To find my true nature, you will have to brave the rest of this tomb."**

The hologram shut off. Bombshell's bright blue form came up on his HUD.

" _I couldn't detect anything, when that was playing. Some kind of unique recording?"_ She said straight to his neural-connection, with the human-esque body-language appearing from her Avatar. While not as advanced as a Forerunner AI, the Synthetic Race had been improving their abilities since the first AI Skynet was invented by CyberDyne in the 20th Century. AI's chose various ways to express themselves, and still preferred to emulate their creators, despite being able to communicate directly with the thoughts of their companions.

"There's more to it than that." Nukem replied, as the three staircases leading from the plinth opened the doors at the feet of their descendence, with a scraping sound. There were no Elevators this time, but each door led into a corridor, two turning left, one turning right.

" _Scanning. The one that turns right appears to lead to an elevator shaft, but I can't go below this floor so it is hard to tell. Best to take that path, and try the others only if necessary."_ The Colonel nodded, then sprinted into the corridor that turned to the right, turning the corners, while unholstering his **.75 Rail-Action Revolver** , preparing for hostiles. Security cannons activated, and Nukem blasted one after another, as hot-hot-hot laser-fire filled the maze he had embarked into. Pretty soon, blam-blam-blam-blam-blam-blam, six drone-sentries later, and he was behind a wall and reloading.

Reloading in 0.2 seconds, Nukem strafed around the corner, firing from the hip, all the while having 5 drone-sentries returning fire at him.

 **TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TR-TRRRT**

 **BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM**

The Colonel decided to fire all six rounds, wanting to decapitate a particularly large white beam cannon, which was vaporizing slabs of metal behind him even as he fired two powerful rounds at the piece of trash. The .75 accelerated rounds tore through the unknown alloy, blasting the tube and it's support structure, to pieces. A massive blast door opened, as the turret's remains were pulled into their holes.

Nukem rushed through the wide opening, and stopped when the room opened up, into something much larger. A large amphitheatre, circular, and holding at least six levels. There were 12 War-Bot's on each level. They turned to stare at him. He stared back. They shouldered weapons, activated implements of pain, and moved into threatening postures. Colonel Nukem just smirked, eyes narrowing.

"Let's Rock."

 **-God Mode-Sons of Amon END-**

 **AUTHOR NOTE** : That's a wrap! Introducing the descendent of one of various Sci-fi's, Colonel Nukem, of NEMESIS DIV, Umbrella Corporation. As explained in main story, he's already been to Pegasus, and been taught a few lessons. He will be recovering information on, you can guess it, the Star Wars Galaxy!

 **Colonel Nukem** : Super Soldier. Musclebound Narcissist. One-liner Autocannon. Pure Biological Manly badass. This one, is the latest in a long line, from the first Duke Nukem of the late 20th Century. Has several campaigns under his broad nuclear belt buckle. Oh, and he's a crack shot with a revolver. Umbrella has been making Super-Soldiers for a while, they are quite good at this, and Nukem is one of their best. Unlike Jensen who's a Cyborg, and Big Boss who's genetically the greatest soldier ever to exist, Nukem is a SS that trained and trained and trained to get to the point you see his ancestor at in Duke 3D. Sprinting across streets, strafing corners, taking gunfire, kicking aliens heads off.


End file.
